Chapter 37: The Sheepish Grin

OLLIE

I wanted him inside me. I couldn’t resist him anymore.

Darius was starting to enter me slowly, so slowly.

“Mr. Rothschild!” Dr. Kumar exclaimed.

“Oh my God!” I yelled when I saw Dr. Kumar entering the room. My legs were fully spread on the hospital bed.

Darius hugged me immediately in an attempt to cover me, but I knew from the doctor’s face that he’d seen everything in full detail.

“Oh, my apologies. I’ll be out of your hair in a second.” Dr. Kumar left a bag on the floor and closed the door quickly behind him.

Darius started laughing.

~Shit, shit, shit!~ What was worse than a walk of shame?

I was a hot mess with Darius surrounding my body, his big erection poking at my belly.

Let’s rewind that. Robert Darius Rothschild had just given me oral and had his pants down. We were both naked from the waist down, in full contact, with no barrier.

May I add that he was a fucking sex god? I was trembling seconds ago, trembling! For God’s sake, that had never happened to me!

How did I lose control of myself like that? Do I have no self-control?

He was laughing now, and his intense and dangerous stare made my face even hotter and no doubt a darker shade of red.

I covered my face with my hands in shame, feeling my heart at full speed.

“Olivia, don’t be silly,” he said, pulling my hands from my face and looking at me with an unreadable expression when he saw the sheepish grin I was hiding underneath.

I lowered my head, hiding my embarrassment, and wished I could disappear off the face of the earth.

He kissed my cheek and my nose, and then, before I had time to open my eyes, he kissed me on my lips and pulled me closer to him.

I was surprised by how I felt when I kissed him back. I wanted him, and that scared me.

I felt his manhood hard and ready for me, and I closed my eyes, preparing for the sweet pleasure, but nothing.

It was a soft kiss that ended as soon as it started, and I was left hot and bothered.

I watched him while I managed the frustration I was feeling inside, but deep down, that helped my mind come back to reality.

I couldn’t think straight when he was touching me.

What the hell had just happened in this room?

“How are you feeling?” His voice was husky.

He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, then reached for my hand to place a soft, intimate kiss on the inner side of my wrist.

I gasped at the contact of his lips on my skin.

I was such a slut. That was how he saw me.

~How can I be the same after this?~

I was lost in my thoughts.

He released my hand and started to give feather-light kisses on my shoulder.

“Olivia, I would like to take my time.”

“Take your time?” I asked, fighting the tickling sensation. I wanted to run, but he had me under some sort of spell again.

What did he need more time for? Was he playing with me?

Was this how he toyed with Seline? Was he planning to do the same with me?

“Yes, with no interruptions.” He continued to leave kisses on my shoulder as he pulled the skirt of my dress down, covering my naked legs and dressing me as if I were his new little doll.

“Tonight,” he added.

“No,” I said, too quickly.

My throat closed in anxiety. It scared me how much control he could have over me.

I was so used to the regular “Ollie and Darius being annoyed at each other” that this weird thing I didn’t have a name for was drilling a hole in my head.

~Olivia, stop thinking with your pussy and use your fucking brain. Darius is nothing but trouble, so stay away.~

“What makes you think there will be a next time?” I said clearly.

His soft expression hardened, and his eyes grew cold. He watched me intensely with his clenched jaw.

What bothered me the most was how he ignored me and remained silent while he pulled on his boxers and zipped his pants.

He walked to the door and grabbed the bag Dr. Kumar had left in a corner.

Was he mad?

He turned his head, showing a flat expression, and his voice revealed a slight tone of disappointment when he spoke.

“Let’s go so you can catch your lunch date.”

***

Now that we were back at the manor, I felt nauseous, maybe because I had a lot to take in with my diagnosis and Darius playing hot and cold.

Our eyes crossed as I unbuckled my seatbelt. Archibald Price was already approaching the car.

“Uhm, thank you,” I managed to say, my voice slightly shaking. “Thank you for taking me to the doctor’s appointment.”

“Have fun on your date, Olivia,” Darius remarked, his eyes flickering toward me as if studying my reaction.

“Darius—I,” I stammered, feeling a wave of heat rush to my cheeks. Was he really watching me? I needed to clarify things between us.

“I—look, I know—I mean, I…”

Gosh, this man was quiet. He had been like that since we left the hospital.

He just raised his eyebrows at me.

“What happened in the hospital—” I spilled out, nerve-wracked. Why was I feeling this way? Of all times to trip over my words. Shit, Ollie. “It was—It was…”

He leaned slightly forward in his chair, clearly intrigued.

“A mistake? Is that what you want to say?”

The tension in the air felt thick, almost crackling, and I realized at that moment how much I didn’t want to make a mistake in what I said next.

I had to get this right, yet my mind was a jumble.

“I just—it’s not what you think,” I tried, my voice barely above a whisper. “I didn’t mean to give you the wrong impression.”

“And what impression was that?” he challenged, but his tone had no sting, just a disarming openness.

His gaze bore into mine, and I couldn’t help but falter under its intensity.

I am not a whore, is what I wanted to say. I am not a toy you can pick and play with.

“Yes—” I hesitated, unsure if I should expose my vulnerability again. But now that I had started, I struggled to find the courage to continue.

“A mistake.” I echoed faintly, swallowing hard.

“Yes, that sounds about right.” Darius didn’t look away, his expression drilling into my forehead as if he was weighing my admission.

“A mistake you liked, Olivia.”

Yes, I like it. I liked it all the way.

I had to press my legs together as I was still feeling the aftereffects of being devoured by this man.

I hated it. I hated how much I liked it.

I hated how horny I was just watching his face.

The silence stretched between us, thick with unspoken words and unresolved emotions.

A hint of a smile tugged at his lips, as if he were reading my mind.

“One we didn’t get to finish.”

“Olivia, you look beautiful,” Archer said as he opened the door, taking me by surprise.

“I thought I’d come to pick you up, but I see that my cousin almost tried to steal you from me.” He gave Darius an amused smile as he extended his hand, and I had no choice but to accept his help getting out of the car.

I instantly felt lighter with the warmth of his hand in mine, but I was in an awkward situation.

Darius ignored him and stayed silent in the car.

I was hardly out of the car before he pulled away.

~Rude.~

“He is not in the mood today,” I explained.

“What were you doing?” Archibald asked, narrowing his eyes.

“He gave me a ride for my doctor’s appointment.”

“Did he try to kill you in the meantime?”

~Kill me with his tongue…~

“I am alive.” I laughed, giving him a sweet smile. “So, where are you taking me?”

“I am taking you to my favorite spot.” He smiled at me, brighter than the sun.

His favorite spot? That sounded exciting.

“Where is your car?”

He smirked. “You mean my bike?”

~A bike?~

“Cute Harley,” I teased him.

“Says the girl who uses flop-flops. She is not ~cute~, she is a beast, and you are way too small to tame her by yourself,” he scoffed.

That was true. It was a huge black sport bike, and oh, Archibald Price looked so sexy on it. I wasn’t sure I could stand it by myself.

“So, it’s a she?”

“Yes.” He sat on the bike and handed me a helmet and his jacket.

“Aren’t you going to wear one?”

“I’ll be alright. It’s close by.”

I sat behind him, adjusting my hands to grab his chest. No, wait…abs.

~Olivia, you really need a cold bath.~

I buried my face in his back and enjoyed the feeling of the wind in my hair as the motorcycle started to move.

I was cold, but Archer’s jacket helped a lot, and he wasn’t kidding about how close it was.

A couple of minutes later, we were approaching the little town near the manor, and he stopped at a humble-looking diner.

He pulled over and turned to take my helmet off. “We’re here.”

Of all the places I’d expected our first date to be, this was the last place I thought he would take me.

“Hope you like cheeseburgers.” He took my hand and guided me to the establishment.

We sat in a red leather booth, and I noticed a spark in Archibald’s eyes.

I smiled back, feeling his excitement. It was contagious.

“Archer!” An old lady waved to us kindly from the counter and approached us.

She had curly white hair, and her hands were covered with freckles from old age and sun exposure.

She wore a mustard-yellow uniform with red stripes, and a gold pin with her name.

“Hi, Grace. Meet Olivia,” Archibald introduced me.

“A special lady, I assume,” the old lady replied sweetly.

“Very special.” She surprised me by pinching one of his cheeks, mother-like. “I’ll bring both of you the usual.”

“Thank you, Grace,” he said, not taking his eyes off me.

“So, this is your favorite spot.” I already felt comfortable in the warm booth.

This place was anything but fancy. I felt like I was having lunch with one of my friends back in college.

Grace came with two burgers and shakes that Archibald took from her.

He put one of them in front of me. It was huge, with a side of parmesan fries.

“Go ahead, try it,” he said with a smug smile on his face.

The delicious taste of the meat and cheese on the soft bun made me squeal in amazement. “Archer!”

“I know, they are quite good.”

“~Good~? Are you kidding me? This is the best burger ever!” I rhapsodized like a kid and took another huge bite. “Like ever, ever, ever,” I added, ecstatic.

“I am glad that I brought you here.” He closed his eyes for a second with a small smile.

“I am glad I am here too,” I told him, looking into his dreamy eyes.

How could he be so sweet and humble?

“My mom and my aunt used to work here.” He looked at the other tables where a couple of customers were sitting silently, eating their meals.

“Wait, what?” I exclaimed, filled with morbid curiosity.

He cracked up at my amazed expression.

“My mom is very different from my aunt,” he explained, turning his attention to Grace, who was walking toward us with two shakes in hand.

What the fuck! Anna and Sophie? Working at a diner? Didn’t they come from money?

“It’s hard to imagine Anna serving burgers and shakes.” I sipped the vanilla shake. It was creamy and perfect.

He stared at me with a crooked smile. “I have pictures.”

“Shut up!” I almost yelled, astonished.

We laughed so naturally. He was still holding my hand across the booth.

I swallowed hard as he made little circles on my hand with his thumb.

“Is it so hard to believe?” he asked, watching our interlocked fingers.

“Yes,” I replied honestly.

“Olivia, even though I have everything, my mother made me work every summer when we returned to the Hamptons. Something about keeping my feet on the ground and being grateful.”

“Wow.” I hadn’t expected that.

“Did Darius and Alexander work at this diner too?”

“No,” he answered, taking his hand away and sitting back in the booth. “But I did make sure Darius’s burger had extra pickles every time he came up to eat,” he replied casually with a devilish grin.

“Oh, I take it that he hates pickles?” This story was so amusing.

“No more than I don’t like him,” he said seriously.

Somehow I knew it was true: they hated each other. And this started when they were teenagers.

“Reasons why you can’t trust people who hate pickles,” I said to lighten the air.

“Something like that,” he said.

“Well, it’s good that I love pickles. In fact, in my opinion, the pickle is the cucumber’s cooler cousin.” I grabbed one of my fries and dipped it in ketchup.

“You are funny. I always knew I was the cooler cousin.” He picked up the burger with both of his hands.

Oh, so he took it like Darius was an actual cucumber.

Well, he was. A fat, thick cucumber! My dirty mind was working rigorously, making me blush.

I kept my eyes on the burger, trying to think about anything other than Darius’s cucumber or Archer’s pickle.

~Oh please, let it be bigger than a pickle.~

“Archer, why do you hate each other so much?” I asked softly.

~Olivia, stop snooping on other people’s family drama!~

“Are you talking about my cousin?” He finished his milkshake and set it on the side of the table.

“Yes.” I couldn’t stop myself; I needed to know.

“Why do you want to know about Darius, Ollie?” he asked flatly.

He looked mad. It was strange seeing Archibald like this.

“I don’t. Let’s change topics.” ~Liar.~

“Well, what exactly do you want to know about him?” he pressed.

“Umm…nothing,” I insisted awkwardly.

“You can always Google him if you’re so curious.” Now he sounded almost annoyed.

“What are you talking about? I don’t Google people,” I scoffed. ~Who googled people? That was so impersonal.~

~Liar, again.~

He placed two fingers on his forehead and stared at me with an unusual look that made me feel nervous.

What was he thinking?

“I googled you,” he said casually.

“You what?” I leaned on the table.

Did I appear on Google? What the fuck did he find? I needed to know!

“You are smarter than what you show yourself to be. I found some of your essays about American literature and being an educated animal.”

“You read my essays?” I asked, red-faced.

“Olivia, you are quite brilliant.”

I decided to stay silent, maybe because I was such a critic of my own work that saying “thank you” would make me feel like the biggest hypocrite in the world.

Those essays were far from perfect.

“How is it that you haven’t become an author yet?”

“I got caught up with another project.” A truth and a lie in one answer.

“Care to tell me?” he prompted as he received the bill and his card from Grace.

“I was creating an AI model that could think and write just like me,” I muttered, watching how he signed his full name in beautiful cursive handwriting.

“Just like you?”

“Yes. Imagine something similar to a replica of my brain but with a learning curve of its own. We used deep learning,” I explained like it was no big deal.

“And what does this AI do?” he asked, amused.

Was he truly curious?

“Infinite possibilities. You give it a data structure, and it learns independently. This one was created to speed up the publishing process of any editorial, write stories, even review books and authors.”

“Ollie, how fascinating.” He sounded genuine.

“Umm…thank you.” I was embarrassed by his reaction.

“Would you mind if I take a look at your project?”

I crossed my arms over my chest.

“I don’t have access to it anymore.” I pushed down any feelings regarding this topic.

It was quite sensitive, and I’d already cried in Darius’s arms today.

I wasn’t planning on repeating that with Archer.

He arched an eyebrow.

“And who does?”

“Well, my ex,” I tried to explain, feeling unsteady. “It’s a long story.”

Thinking about Roger made me sick.

Archer clearly saw how the topic made me anxious.

“I can help you get it back with my legal team,” he offered.

“You have a legal team? What exactly do you do?”

“What do you picture me doing?” he asked.

“Law?” I took my first guess.

“Why? Because I am so righteous?” He paused, showing his dashing smile. “I do venture capital, Ollie.”

“Archibald, angel investor.” I spread my hands in the air as if displaying his name and title on a marquee.

I wasn’t mocking him; I just found what he did exciting.

Security and fun, all in one package. Just like a perfect condom.

“All that, but with discretion,” he added. “I’m pretty sure I can take a look at what’s happening with your company. If the numbers add up, we can reach a settlement before the end of this year.”

I shook my head, not believing what he’d said.

“In less than five days?”

~Too good to be true.~

Archibald grinned.

“Yes, I would just need to make a phone call.”

A phone call? ~Was Archer as powerful as Darius?~

“I don’t know what to say.” I looked away.

“Ollie, it’s okay to ask for help,” he continued.

“Thank you.” I guess he was right, and I had nothing to lose.

At this point, for me it was the same to pray to get it back as to ask a stranger to offer help.

“So tell me. Which was the last company you invested in?” I wanted to change the attention to him.

“It wasn’t a company yet; it was a startup. I like to focus on tech, mostly.”

“Do you have a rule of thumb?”

His eyes wrinkled with a closed-mouth smile at my question.

“Rule of thumb? I would say that out of ten to twenty companies we invest in a year, only a small percentage skyrockets, and the profit margin is…ridiculous. It just takes time. Years.”

My eyes widened.

“How ridiculous? Like ten times more?”

“Close to twenty times more than what is invested. Tech companies and private equity look for rapid growth, and it’s faster than investing in established companies. It’s very lucrative.”

“Holy shit.” My mouth dropped open.

We continued talking and enjoying our date.

My stomach was full, and though I tried finishing my vanilla milkshake, it was impossible, so I passed it on to Archibald to finish the job.

“Why was my cousin with you?”

I tensed.

Why is he asking the same question again?

“Darius? To the doctor? He just wanted to help.”

“He just wanted to help,” Archer echoed.

“Yes, it was an important visit.”

“You don’t have to tell me about your doctor’s appointment. I understand if you are private.”

I decided to drop the bomb.

“I have a heart condition.”

Archibald raised his eyebrows, clearly concerned.

“Ollie, how bad?”

I played anxiously with my fingers before answering.

“I’ll be okay if I take medication.”

He reached for my hands, and I let him for a minute, but then I felt uncomfortable and hid them under the table.

“I am sorry,” he said.

“Please, don’t be. I’m okay.”

I swallowed hard as my defense mechanism took over and there was nothing I could do.

Walls-up-Ollie tended to give people a run for their money, and there was nothing I could do to stop my mind going back to what I was looking to bury down.

Darius pushing me to take my diagnosis seriously had made me sensitive and emotional.

How was it even possible? I hadn’t shed a tear in years. Nothing, nada.

Yet, he broke me completely.

I cried.

Darius Rothschild had made me cry, and it was his fault! He was the one who had opened this emotional mess, and now I didn’t know how to shut down everything I was feeling.

And I ~was~ feeling things. Pettiness and helplessness. I hated it. I hated him! I wanted not to care, not to feel, to put up a front.

Instead, I felt that tightening around my chest, and I knew real tears were about to come out, so I closed myself off even more. Including to Archer.

“I totally understand if you don’t feel attracted to me. I mean, who would like to date a sick girl? Maybe it would be better if you dated someone with a healthy heart,” I stuttered quickly.

~A sick girl!~ Talk about self-sabotage. Why was I still thinking about him? About his silver eyes, his tongue. That man! Darius was ruining this! Ruining our date! Ruining my life!

“Whoa, it’s only our first date, Olivia.”

~Jesus, Ollie, relax. Stop thinking about Darius.~

He grinned. “Already planning on breaking my heart, are you? That is so touching.”

“You are right. Just a burger with a buddy,” I smiled awkwardly.

~Oh fuck. Buddy? Seriously, Olivia?~ Who needed a shovel to dig a grave? My tongue worked faster. I’d already mastered the art of burying myself deep enough to smother any air supply.

“A buddy, huh? Back to the friend zone?” He looked so relaxed in the booth while I was crossing and uncrossing my legs.

“Olivia, you don’t have a lot of experience dating, I assume?”

“I guess not. Everybody I date ends up being my boyfriend.”

~Shit. Fuck.~ I was beyond help.

Archibald started coughing. My comment was a life sentence, choking on the last piece of the burger.

“Not that I’ve been in the market for long. I guess I have always been in a relationship. Two long-long-long relationships,” I mumbled.

I had no filter whatsoever.

~Olivia, stop vomiting information about your exes!~

He covered his mouth with a napkin, still recovering, and I was nervous that I had made it worse.

“So, calm down, tiger. I just got out of a relationship, not looking for anything—not with you or your cousin.”

~Where is all this verbal ~diarrhea~ coming from? Shut the fuck up.~

In a minute, he looked better, but his eyes were a little bit watery.

“You are probably right.”

“Which part?”

He smiled, looking slightly disappointed. “About dating an ordinary girl with an ordinary heart.”

Had he just rejected me on the spot?

“We should get back,” he added, looking out the window. “I think it’s going to rain.”

“Okay. Thank you for the food,” I murmured shyly.

Maybe this was all for the best.

“Sure, Ollie.” He looked into my eyes.

Something was off. ~He~ was off. How did everything turn so awkward?

We rode back to the house, but I couldn’t shake the awkward feeling, and when Archibald stopped the bike, I already had a knot in my stomach.

“Ollie, I—” He took my helmet off and stared at my face and then my lips.

Archibald Price held my face with his palms, his thumb caressing my cheek.

I looked up to his emerald eyes.

Was Archibald Price about to kiss me?